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AUSTRALIAN FEDERAL ELECTION 2010, AUGUST 21, an astrological perspective

August 21, 2010 — Living Moon Astrology

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Only two days before the Australian Federal Elections, the outcome is still far from certain.

Elections’ week is astrologically a very significant one, even if we weren’t going to the polls. It started with the mighty second pass of the Jupiter opposition Saturn last Tuesday, August 17, followed by non less than six major transits (and many minor ones) exact, one after the other, until Monday August 23 when the Sun will make his annual entrance into Virgo.The Moon is in her waxing mode, promoting goal-oriented activities, an accelerated pace of life, greater expectations of future development, but also a degree of anxiety and stress. The Moon is transiting Capricorn showing that the general public will be concerned mainly about their financial security, housing, jobs, the cost of living rather than grand schemes and lofty ideals. Practical, down to earth matters will be in the voters’ mind and influence their choices.

Looking at the active transits it is easy to see that, during this period, we are experiencing another wave of the Cardinal T Cross that has had astrologers so worried for a while, with Saturn opposed by Jupiter for the second time this year and squaring Pluto for the last time just on Elections’ day!

I would like to highlight here the significance of some of the major transits, with the Australian Federal Elections and his candidates in mind.

Jupiter opposition Saturn and square Pluto

Jupiter in Aries is opposing Saturn in Libra (second pass) on August 17. The first occurrence of this transit was in May 2010 and the last will be at the end of March 2011. The transit will be still very powerful on Election Day, together with the square Jupiter-Pluto that became exact for the second time in early August and involves the three planets in the T square configuration.

Jupiter opposing Saturn represents the open confrontation of two differing viewpoints and philosophies of life, optimism versus pessimism, wishful thinking versus serious planning, speculation versus realism, etc. etc.The still active square of both Saturn and Jupiter to Pluto makes the whole configuration much more dramatic and conducive to major changes to the status quo. This for some are symbols that a change of government may be at hand.

The all important configuration straddles the two Cardinal Signs that are central to the Birth Charts of both candidates: Libra, occupied by the Sun in Julia Gillard’s Chart, and Aries, occupied by the Moon in Tony Abbott’s Chart. The opposition symbolizes an extended period (the last pass will occur in March 2011) during which these apparently antagonistic forces will manifest in many areas of our lives, including, of course, politics.

During the period covered by this powerful transit aspirations and ideals, at the personal and collective levels, will have to be severely tested by practical considerations. This will be especially true for Julia Gillard because Saturn is now close to transiting over her Sun degree (exact in mid-September). Certainly a testing and growing time for her but also one that could be very constructive, establishing her role and position in the world. Winning this elections under such transit would mean very hard work ahead for Julia Gillard, more responsibilities, obstacles, hardships, oppositions, not an easy ride by any means. With Saturn on her Sun, authority and power come in fact with a heavy price tag. One way or another Saturn conjunct the Sun is always a turning point for anyone who experience it. A good example is Kevin Rudd, Australia’s former Labor prime Minister who was deposed by his colleagues just as Saturn became conjunct his Sun and Mars. Because in Rudd’s Birth Chart Mars is closely conjunct the Sun, Saturn became conjunct Mars as well , proving to be a very hard turning point for him.

The same transit may also be important in Tony Abbott’s Chart, but, not knowing his time of birth, it is impossible to establish if Jupiter is in any way conjunct his Moon in Aries at present. If it is then it could be a great help to him, improving his public standing and confidence in himself.

In Bob Brown’s Birth Chart the opposition Jupiter-Saturn is forming positive aspects with his Birth Moon in Gemini (sextile from Jupiter and trine from Saturn), to me a symbol that the confrontation of the other two major candidates, represented by the opposition itself, will play in his favor and boost his popularity.

Sun opposition Neptune and Chiron

Leo Sun opposing first Neptune in Aquarius, on August 20 and then Chiron in Aquarius on August 22. These are annual events that happen to ‘coincide’ with the Elections.

These transits very well depict the confused feelings that have permeated the whole election campaign, the wavering and volubility of the public response, the uncertainty about the way it will go for Australia. Neptune is, among other things, the planet of confusion, deception, murky and unclear situation. Because these aspects are so close to Election Day there is a possibility that the confusion will not end with the end of the campaign but could follow it for a while. It could mean, together with the retrogradation of Mercury (see below) that the results will not become clear for a while or will be the subject of controversy. To me the opposition Sun-Neptune also very well depict the negative role of the media reporting in this campaign, and how it contributed greatly to the general confusion, worsening the already jaded attitude of the electorate, already disillusioned by the political events that preceded the elections, in particular the sacking of our previous Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd.

In Julia Gillard’s Chart the transiting Sun, while opposing the transiting Neptune and Chiron, will also conjunct her Uranus indicating that the result of the election will have an element of surprise for her. I consider the Sun-Uranus’ contact a positive for her mainly because of an harmonious aspect between her Mars and Uranus at birth, aspect that the Sun will energize and make more powerful, while passing over Uranus at the time of the election.

In Tony Abbott’s Chart the same oppositions finds Neptune on the cusp of his Midnight point (at sunrise) and the Sun on this Chart’s Mid-heaven. What to make of this? The Sun on top could well mean victory for him, while Neptune on the other side could destabilize his position, especially by internal problems of his party. This opposition is also in positive aspect to his Venus in Sagittarius and his Mars in Libra, some of the best transits he has around elections’ time and the reason why many astrologers are actually predicting his victory. The presence of Neptune however makes the whole configuration a bit sass and difficult to trust. When Neptune is prominent confusion reigns, things are never clear-cut.

In Bob Brown’ Chart the same opposition is forming a positive angle (trine) with his adventurous and outspoken Mercury in Sagittarius, fact that could contribute to his popularity and ability to inspire the electorate.

Venus conjunct Mars in Libra

Venus conjunct Mars on the 13th degree of Libra on the day of the Elections, August 21. This is the highlight of the Venus-Mars cosmic relationship, repeating three times, twice this year, August and October, and one time next year, in May. These conjunctions will be in the Signs of Libra (August), Scorpio (October) and Taurus (May 2011). The last of these triple conjunctions, in the same Signs, has not been seen since 1978/79.

Venus meets Mars routinely every couple of years, but this year these particular repeating conjunctions belong also to a greater Venus-Mars’ cycle lasting 77 months (six years +) and even a greater one of 32 years. This is the time to better integrate masculine and feminine forces on the planet, and within each one of us, to achieve a greater degree of fairness and cooperation among the sexes, and also a greater inner integration between activity and receptivity, independence and cooperation and so on.

As far as the Elections are concerned it is too easy to see Venus-Mars’ conjunction as the ‘girl meeting boy’ transit, manifested in Gillard, woman, versus Abbott, man. If you take this as a powerful symbol of what it is happening, as I do, then you can see that the power of Venus, the feminine principle is, at the moment, on the raise, Venus transiting and forming the conjunction in Libra, Sign of her Rulership and Dignity, a place of active power for Venus. Furthermore Venus is at her greatest angular distance from the Sun, meaning that our sister planet is now reaching her brightest phase and awareness.

Mars, on the other hand, represents the weak one in this conjunction, transiting the Sign of his Detriment, opposite to Aries, the Sign Mars traditionally rules. This simple picture seems to indicate a victory of the feminine. Julia Gillard was also born a Libra so the conjunction occurs in her own Sun Sign, while in Abbott’s Chart it falls opposite his Moon Sign of Aries.

Looking at other aspects of this conjunction in Gillard’s Chart I have found a semi-square aspect between it and Julia’s Uranus in late Leo, to which the transiting Sun is also conjunct. This is a fairly powerful configuration indicating some surprising or unexpected turns of event, or simply an unusual degree of excitement and intellectual stimulation for our current Prime Minister. Below is Julia Gillard’s Birth Chart (with the tentative birth time of noon at the moment circulating the net), in the inner circle, and the Sunrise Chart for Election Day, August 21, in the outer circle.

Click to enlarge

In Tony Abbott’s Birth Chart (time still unknown) the same conjunction is not that far, only five degrees, from his Jupiter indicating an expansive period ahead and increased confidence. It also forms positive angles with his Chiron, promoting healing and learning. The Jupiter’s aspect is not exact on Election Day though, and Mars, who Tony Abbott naturally embodies, here is still weaker than Venus in the Sign of Libra. We shouldn’t forget that both Gillard and Abbott were born with Mars in Libra so that their connection with this cyclical conjunction is even more significant. Abbott’s transits on the day are, by the way, far from negative. Many in fact are rather good and could indicate a positive outcome for him. I feel that this will be true even if he loses in the end. The best of his transits are the harmonious angle of Neptune and Mars (trine), indicating that he is feeling very inspired, driven by a sort of religious fervor for his liberal cause and, because of that, perhaps liable to lose touch with reality a little. He is also experiencing the transiting Sun in harmonious aspect to his Venus in Sagittarius, a fun-day transit, while touching the Mid-Heaven of his Sunrise Chart (a symbolic rather than real Mid-heaven), also indicating honors and success.

Below is Tony Abbott’s Sunrise Chart (inner circle) and the Chart of Election Day, August 21, on sunrise too.

Click to enlarge

To me however the prominent Venus in Libra still seems to point to a victory for Julia Gillard: the symbol is just too powerful and visually compelling to be ignored.

Mercury’s Retrograde Station

Mercury is turning Stationary Retrograde on Election Day. In another type of country one might fear all sorts of problems in counting the votes, making sure no one votes twice etc. In Australia could mean a slow and difficult process of counting all the votes and putting a clear picture together, because retro Mercury likes rather to confuse issues and muddle things up. This transit, more than any other, has sparked the fear of Australians ending up with a hung parliament. A recent example are the British Elections of May 6 2010, run on the last week of a retrograde period of Mercury, ending up in a hung parliament and eventually in the conservative victory thanks to their unlikely alliance to the Liberals. Alliances are different in Australia, while a re-shuffle of the cards in new and unusual ways is certainly possible under a retro gradation of Mercury. All the politicians involved and their voters will have time to re-think and re-value their experiences of the Elections, after they are done. One of the worse scenario would see the nation waiting until the end of Mercury’s retro period, mid September, to know who has the mandate. Even without such a dramatic effect Mercury retro during an election could contribute to all sorts of communication problems, breaking down of networks. misinformation, misinterpretation, recanting etc. Let’s hope for the best.

The retrograde Mercury in Virgo will be in positive aspect to Tony Abbott’s own Mercury in Scorpio, indicating perhaps that the retrogadation itself will not affect him too negatively.

The same Mercury will be sitting right on Gillard’s Mid-Heaven and station there for a few days (if we accept the noon birth time), a positive sign I feel, for her career, and also an opportunity to improve her people and communication skills.

Saturn square Pluto

I have already discussed this transit while talking about the Jupiter-Saturn’s opposition. Few more words will suffice here (or i will finish this post only after the elections!).

Saturn in Libra square Pluto in Capricorn (last pass), is happening also on the same day of the Elections. The previous passes of this powerful transit occurred in November 2009 and February 2010. Now this is a very hard aspect, one of the most difficult, indicating the collective need to experience radical changes and even the destruction of much cherished security and what has been established by years of hard work and commitment. In Gillard’s Chart this transit is tied up with Saturn moving onto her Sun, indicating that this is a major life changing configuration for her, one that could propel her into position of power but also involve her in a ruthless war to gain that position. These Elections have been a great example and proof of this ongoing struggle for her. Apart from the obvious negative connotations of these transits they are also empowering her and making her even more determinate to win.

In Tony Abbott’s Chart this transit shouldn’t have the same dramatic effect, while a semi-square of transiting Pluto to his birth Mercury in Scorpio can be considered a slightly negative factor. In Bob Brown’s Birth Chart Pluto is slowly but surely applying to a conjunction to his Sun in Capricorn, showing his raise to positions of greater power and influence in the next year. This is a chance in a lifetime for Bob Brown to implement some of the changes he has envisioned for Australia, because power (Pluto) will definitely be on his agenda when Pluto become conjunct his Sun in the near future.

Conclusion

Predicting the outcome of an election is nearly impossible because the factors involved are just too numerous and often very contradicting. Sometimes, like it was the case with the latest American elections, the picture was clear enough though for astrologers to be able to make some meaningful statements. A lot of astrologers correctly predicted Obama’s win over McKain, mainly based on the opposition Saturn-Uranus (old versus new) that was current at the time, and the fact that Obama was having a Jupiter return year, always a symbol of popularity and success. The advantage in that case was also that we knew both candidates’ times of birth. At the moment instead we don’t yet know the birth times of the two major contestants, Gillard and Abbott, so our interpretations have a limited scope for a start, because we cannot use angular placements to establish the strength or weakness of any of the planetary players and we are lacking the invaluable information given by the Ascendant’s degree. Like everybody I have my personal preferences here that I haven’t even tried to conceal; those, of course, will affect the way I am ‘reading’ the available signs. To remain objective is indeed very difficult and, in fact, impossible. But we can try.

Looking at Tony Abbott’s transits victory is a possibility for him; as a matter of fact he has more positive aspects than Julia Gillard has. Whatever the outcome this elections could prove him a winner in the eyes of many people and advance his career.

Bob Brown’s star seems to be on the raise too and his role in the upcoming government could be indeed crucial.

Perhaps due to wishful thinking brought about by my own preferences, not much about the parties involved but rather the personalities of the two major contestants, I will put my bet on Gillard for a narrow margin win. This conclusion is based mainly on the visually compelling conjunction of Venus to Mars in Libra, Julia Gillard’s Sun Sign, a cosmic phenomenon that we can all admire in the evening sky, tonight and in the next few days. The feminine is strong and bright for all to see: time we had in Australia a woman Prime Minister, to restore some balance (Libra) to this male dominated world. Happy Elections, everyone.

A post on the Astrology of our Green leader Bob Brown is nearly ready and will be in as soon as possible.

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